CVPA Career Panel Discusses Arts in the Real World

February 18, 2008

By Christina Mennella

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, alumni from the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) and other arts professionals will be at the Fairfax Campus as part of a panel, Arts in the Real World, to discuss careers in the arts.

The discussion will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Mason Hall Atrium and is open to Mason students and alumni. In addition to the discussion, there will be time for networking with alumni and CVPA faculty, and information on internships will be available.

CVPA Dean William Reeder and Ann Mills, career counselor in Career Services, will moderate the discussion. Panelists include

• Shana L. Kennedy, BM Vocal Performance '03, MA Arts Management '06
  
• Dancer and choreographer Natalie Moffatt Smith, MFA Dance ’99, founder of Dance Smith
  
• Documentary filmmaker Thomas Britt, Communication faculty member and director/producer of the documentary “Winesburg, Ohio.”
  
• Graphic Designer Tony Falkenstein, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Washington, D.C.
  
• Photographer Joshua Gomez, BA Photography '07
  
• Linda Gammon, MA Conducting '05, band director at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon, Va., and recent winner of the Virginia Music Educator of the Year Award and the Scroll of Excellence from the Women Band Directors International Association
  
• Actor Elise Arsenault, BA Theater '06
  
• Actor Lee Mikeska, Helen Hayes Award-winning actress and director and former executive director of the Washington Shakespeare Company

This is the third annual career panel sponsored by the CVPA Alumni Chapter, University Career Services and the Office of Alumni Affairs.

“This annual event provides alumni with an opportunity to reconnect with CVPA and Mason in a meaningful way,” says Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, BM Music’01, current CVPA Alumni Chapter president. “Current students are able to tap the panelists’ expertise and gain valuable insights as they launch careers in the arts.”

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